“Peiya, you just went away, leaving all of this for me to deal with. How can I face your families?”
Xiao Bing sighed deeply and knocked at the door slightly.
The door creaked open.
It was opened by a 20-year-old girl, wearing a white T-shirt, jeans, and a pair of slippers. Her face quite resembled that of Su Peiya. But the temperament between the two people was absolutely different. Su Peiya was enthusiastic while this girl was a little indifferent.
Xiao Bing looked at this young girl and asked, “Are you Su Xiaoxiao?”
“Who are you?” The girl with beautiful eyes alertly looked at Xiao Bing who looked like a soldier, and she refused to talk with a stranger from a distant place.
Xiao Bing was afflictive and felt something pressing on his chest. He took a deep breath and said, “I am the leader of Su Peiya, also her best friend and comrade-in-arms.”
Hearing this, Su Xiaoxiao’s face changed suddenly and she closed the door right away, trying to refuse Xiao Bing in.
It was unexpected for Xiao Bing that Su Xiaoxiao would do this. In a surprise, he stopped the door from closing and said loudly, “I am really your sister’s friend. What are you doing?”
“Get out now. I have no sister,” Su Xiaoxiao said with emotions. “Put your hands away, or I will call the police.”
“I will tell you about this even if you call the police. When your sister was alive, she always talked with me about you. When you were in junior high school, a boy wanted to send you home every day, but he was beaten by your sister. The food you like most is Osmanthus Jelly, and the drink you love most is milk tea.”
Xiao Bing felt that she loosened her grip, and he continued in advantage. “She also told me that you were the person she loved most in this world. You understand much more things than she did, although you were younger. You understand how to take care of parents and your home.”
“I could see this from her eyes when she was talking about you. You are so important in her heart. But you said you had no sister. Do you how painful she would feel if she hears it?”
Su Xiaoxiao suddenly opened the door again, and she dragged Xiao Bing into the house with her soft and small hands. Xiao Bing was dragged to a room, having no time to take off his shoes.
Although the room was small, it was clean and tidy with all necessary things. There was a wedding picture on the wall above the bed. Xiao Bing speculated it was her parents. But there was a black-and-white photo on the opposite side of the wall, which gave him a bad feeling.
Su Xiaoxiao pointed at the bed and explained to him, her eyes brimmed with tears. “This is my parents’ room. They had been sleeping on it for many years, but two months ago, only one person could sleep on it, because my dad died of a car accident. He really wanted to see my sister before he died, but we could not contact her. My dad did not even close his eyes when he died! Do you know this?”
Her words exploded in Xiao Bing’s head, and he felt guiltier than before. Two months ago, he had been performing a task with the Dragon Gate members in Africa. According to the rules, in order not to expose family members, they could not contact any of them during the mission. So, Su Peiya did not know what had happened to her family until she died.
Su Xiaoxiao held back her tears and laughed coldly. “Do you understand why I hate her now? She was selected by our country when she was in college. She has only called us several times in five years and she only came back for two times. When she was at home, she just stayed with us for two nights. She used the fixed-line telephone to talk with us, and she even did not leave a mobile phone number for us.”
“We can understand her, and know she sacrificed all of this for our country. We were also very proud when she was selected. But anyone can’t ignore his families no matter how great he is. She even forgot our parents! When my dad had a car accident, where was she? When my dad wanted to see her for the last time, where was she?”
“I don’t care how special your job is. What impressed me most deeply was that she did not care about us when she was alive. My dad was unwilling to close his eyes before dying, only wanting to see her. Thinking of this, I can’t forgive her forever.”
Xiao Bing sighed deeply and felt frustrated. “You hate her. I can understand you, but she has gone. Everything should be forgotten.”
Su Xiaoxiao’s body trembled, and her eyes fell from Xiao Bing’s face to the urn in his hands. Her face became very pale, and she opened the mouth, trying to talk for several times. “You are a liar. Who are you? You must be lying to me,” said she, with unclear voice.
How young she was! But she needed to face so many bad things. Xiao Bing hated himself suddenly because he should not come here and tell her about this at this point. However, it was too late to regret. He looked at Su Xiaoxiao and hesitated to continue. “She was on a mission in Africa five days ago. Unfortunately, she…… Before leaving this world, she asked me to take her bone ash back home, and she told me the address of your house.”
Su Xiaoxiao’s throat seemed to be plugged and she could not utter anything. Tears burst out. She was so slim, yet she heavily pushed Xiao Bing away like an angry lion, and shouted at him by a loud and crazy voice which could make someone despair. “I don’t believe this!”
“I don’t believe all of this!!”
“I won’t believe it forever!!!”
Su Xiaoxiao pushed him heavily again, but he could not stop her in order not to hurt her. As a result, he was forced to retreat until his body touched the wall. He could not retreat anymore.
“You are a big liar. My sister is still alive!”
Su Xiaoxiao was crying while Xiao Bing’s eyes turned red too. He lowered his head and took out a letter from the chest. It had been written by Su Peiya before she was dead. Su Xiaoxiao took it away, shoot it a glance, and then fell down in a faint. But she was held in Xiao Bing’s arm in time.
Su Peiya made an apology to her family and asked her sister to accompany their parents. Being apart for such a long time, Su Xiaoxiao still recognized the handwriting of her sister on the first sight.
Xiao Bing embraced her tightly, feeling her trembling, soft body as if he could feel her heart was nearly broken. He almost cried, but he said firmly, “Xiaoxiao, you must believe in me. Although your sister is not alive, I will help her to take care of your family. I swear I will do it.”
The phone in the living room was ringing all the time. Su Xiaoxiao was still crying in Xiao Bing’s arms, but hearing this, Su Xiaoxiao pushed him away and unsteadily rushed to the room. Xiao Bing sighed and followed her.
A middle-aged woman who seemed at loss was talking on the phone. “Xiaoxiao, come here right now. Our shore was smashed. You mum is having a heart attack again. I don’t think she can hold it…”
The voice on the phone almost made her collapse. The financial situation of her family had become better and better during these years, and her mom then opened a noodle restaurant. More and more people liked the food in the restaurant and they had made much money. They then moved the restaurant to the university town. After her dad died, she worried about the problem of her mom’s heart, so she asked her mom to stay at home. But her mom ignored her advice. If not necessary, the worker in the restaurant would not call her. It seemed that the situation became worse.
Xiao Bing heard the details clearly on the phone. Su Xiaoxiao rushed out of the house crazily without closing the door. Xiao Bing followed hurriedly, trying to protect her.
Rushing out of the block, Su Xiaoxiao called a taxi right away. Xiao Bing was intended to get in, but he was pushed out. He had no choice but to call another one to follow them. “Follow that one in front of us. Don’t get lost,” he said to the driver.
“Okay, I got it. What is going on? Are you quarreling?”
Xiao Bing was in bad mood, so he glared at the driver. The driver was frightened as he shut up and followed the car.
The noodle restaurant was near the university. There were more students than before because of the vocation. When Xiao Bing arrived at her house, Su Xiaoxiao was about to go help in the restaurant. But it was now ruined, and no customer was inside.
Xiao Bing arrived and saw that Su Xiaoxiao was squatting on the floor, crying and shouting loudly, “Mom, please hold on. Come on, mom. The ambulance will come soon.”
A 50-year-old woman was lying on the floor. She dressed like common people with an apron around her waist. Her two daughters all looked like her. But now, her face was pale, and she almost could not breathe. It seemed that she was going to die.
Xiao Bing had never expected that Su Xiaoxiao’s mom was sick seriously. If not arriving on time, her mom could not survive before the ambulance arrived. He had some murderous intent toward the trouble maker. He said to Su Xiaoxiao, “Give your mom to me.”
“You… Can you cure illness?” asked Su Xiaoxiao tensely.
“I have learned some easy first aid measures from my friends. She can’t insist for too long. We can’t just wait here. Let me have a try.”
Anyone could see that her mom was going to die. Under the urgent situation, Su Xiaoxiao dared not hesitate and nodded to him.
“Did she take the medicines after the heart attack?” he asked.
“I helped her take the Instant-effect Jiuxin Pills right after Sister Li had the heart attack. But it seemed useless,” said the 40-year-old lady who was standing aside.
Xiao Bing gratefully looked up at this lady. Without the pill, Su Xiaoxiao’s mom might’ve passed away. He did not say anything useless and said to Su Xiaoxiao, “I will tell you the details about how to save your mom. Listen, unfasten her button first, and take off the apron.”
Su Xiaoxiao was doing what he was saying.
“Put the middle finger of your left hand on the concave place below her neck, and put your palm on her central chest. Then, put your right palm on the left one, and cross your fingers. Upwarp your central palm and then press the chest downward. Next, release the palms a bit. Okay, it is good. You do it by this way continuously, and you need to be faster. Try to do this more than 100 times in a minute.”
When the two females were at loss and did not know what to do, Xiao Bing’s voice was calm and confident, which began to influence them gradually. Su Xiaoxiao’s quivering hands started to become steady.
